The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rhododendron plant of hybrid origin, botanically known as Rhododendron hybrida ‘UMNAZ 493’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘UMNAZ 493’. ‘UMNAZ 493’ is a new cultivar of deciduous Rhododendron grown for use as a landscape plant.
The new cultivar was developed through an on-going breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Excelsior, Minn. The objectives of the breeding program are to develop new cultivars of Rhododendron that exhibit cold tolerance, excellent floral displays, disease-resistant foliage, and compact, deciduous plant habits. The new cultivar was derived from a cross made by the Inventors on May 23, 1988 between an unnamed proprietary plant in the Inventor's breeding program, Rhododendron hybrida UMN accession no. 19840940, as the female parent and an unnamed plant of Rhododendron atlanticum as the male parent. The Inventors selected ‘UMNAZ 493’ as a single unique plant amongst the seedlings that resulted from the above cross in June 1994.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings in Excelsior, Minn. in June 1994—by one of the Inventors. Asexual propagation by softwood stem cuttings and tissue culture has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.